US Iraq veteran’s Amsterdam suicide

This video is about US Iraq veterans facing increased suicide risk – 23 May 2008.

Already in 2007, a “suicide epidemic” among veterans of George W. Bush’s Iraq war was noted.

It continues today.

Translated from Dutch daily De Volkskrant:

Iraq veteran jumps out of hotel window

12 October 2009

AMSTERDAM – A 23 year-old US American war veteran last month, one day before he was supposed to return to where he lived in Texas, jumped out of the window of his Amsterdam hotel.

‘This was 100% suicide. A tragic case’, a police spokesperson said.

Infantryman Paul D[anna]. had just finished a 15 month tour of duty in Iraq. On 25 September he was supposed to go home, to Castroville, a town close to San Antonio (Texas). However, one day before that he jumped from his third story hotel room on the Kloveniersburgwal. The police have talked to witnesses.

Last week, the soldier had been buried in Castroville with military honours. Then, his family still supposed that his death in Amsterdam had been an accident. Military authorities had told them an investigation was still going on.

USA: Rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment in the military is an epidemic but it is not being treated as one: here.

Republican Senate wants homeless vets’ families to stay homeless: here.

The sister of a British aid worker murdered in Iraq alleged on Tuesday that former prime minister Tony Blair may have moved soldiers into the Iraq warzone to curry favour with the US.

Britain: A retired Army officer whose son was killed in Iraq has said the government “misled” the country over the reasons for going to war: here.

The government has been accused of flagrantly breaching international law following the deportations of a number of Iraqi asylum-seekers back to Baghdad this week: here.

Related articles

• The Last Letter (truthdig.com)
• 5 Reasons The U.S. Is Worse Off Because Of The Iraq War (thinkprogress.org)
• Joe Klein: The Sad State of Veterans’ Affairs, 10 Years After the Iraq War Start (time.com)
• Iraq War: Britons give verdict 10 years on (standard.co.uk)
• 190,000 lives lost, $2.2 trillion cost – Looking back at decade since start of Iraq War (al.com)